And the Feeding Issues Begin!

An update from Kristin:

Well, they warned us that feeding issues were the most common post-surgical complication with the Norwood, but a part of me was secretly hoping that little Sam would be the first Norwood baby ever to sail through recovery without a single feeding problem. As you can probably see by the title of this blog, however, I was wrong.

Sam fussed through most of the night, and I just had a feeling that his little stomach was bothering him. Sure enough, first thing this morning he threw up some breastmilk along with his NG tube. Sam-style, he accomplished this right when the doctors were rounding and raving about how wonderfully he was doing. They had actually just finished discussing how he should be able to switch to oral feeding very soon, but once he threw up his NG tube, that plan was quickly replaced with a different one: give Sam an NG tube that goes directly into his intestines instead of just his stomach. They figured that the high-pressure air flow he has been receiving through his nose has been filling his stomach with air, and the NG tube has been filling his stomach with food, thus leading to a very grouchy and uncomfortable little fellow.

Nor did he enjoy having the NG tube shoved into intestines. In fact, he somehow managed to snort the entire thing out (all the way from his intestines--he's a determined little boy!), so when they reinserted it, they had to tape it down to his face very thoroughly.

Side note: Dr. Jaggers, Sam's brilliant heart surgeon and a man of few words, examined Sam's belly, looked at multiple charts and x-rays, and declared, "This boy has a gassy tummy." I guess as far as complications go, this one is pretty manageable.

Thankfully, the deeper NG tube has made him feel better, but it does set us back a little. His ticket out of here is feeding orally, and now he's a bit further away from that. When I asked the doctor how long she thought it would take to get him feeding orally, she pointed her finger at Sam and said, "He gets to decide. For some babies, it takes three days, and for others, it takes three weeks." The thought of three more weeks in the CICU made me panic slightly, so I decided to take a walk to Caribou Coffee and pretend to be a normal human for a little while. It was nice.

When I came back, our nurse decided that it was high time for Sam to be a normal human as well, so she gave him a bath, which you can see him deeply enjoying here:


...and dressed him in real clothes for the first time! He is officially no longer a nudist. Note the monkey feet:


Also, Sam had the pleasure of being held by several visitors on Saturday, and here are some pictures from their visits. If anyone else would like to come snuggle this little one, please come by. Enjoy!